


What a Dummy

by Nateku



Series: What a Dummy [1]
Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-15
Updated: 2012-07-15
Packaged: 2017-11-10 01:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nateku/pseuds/Nateku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Tony Stark faces his childhood demons in the form of America's greatest hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What a Dummy

_“He was better…better than ALL of us.” A pause for another sip._

_“Not just the strength, but dammit that man was a better person than any of us ever could be.” Another sip, he’s close to the limit this time._

_“And you…” This time a pointing finger, a stare “…you could never sacrifice like that, lay down your fucking life for something bigger than yourself!”_

_He sees the bursting of glass, whiskey running down the table, and the eyes of his mother on the stairway, frozen in her guilt at hearing and not acting._

_He closes his eyes, trying to drown out everything before_

“TONY.” 

“Huh, yeah. Well that’s great yes. But no. As much as I’d love cramming myself in a tiny foreign film theater with the evil twin of the Jolly Green Giant over there,” a gesture at Bruce earns him a look and an eye roll from his fellow scientist. “I really do have things to do. Corporations to run. Peppers to bother.” 

Natasha listens with more patience than she usually gives their resident billionaire playboy, but as he tapers off she flares slightly. “Well fine, I just thought since you were so gung-ho with the shawarma you might be up for getting to know your team mates a bit better.” She retorts, letting her arms drop with exasperation. 

“Hey, don’t bring the shawarma into this. It was good…mostly. Okay, still not sure what sort of meat we ate, I think beef? Maybe…snake? But really and truly, I’m quite tired from the whole not nuclear exploding thing.” Tony answers her with more of that Stark snark, but does manage to pull off sounding at least relatively apologetic. 

As Natasha opens her mouth to continue the discussion, Clint wisely cuts her off with a hand on her shoulder “It’s alright Natasha, we’ll just go with Bruce and have a lovely time on our own.” He explained calmly, “Besides, I don’t think that…” He pulls out a paper, squinting at the words “ Chi-hwa-seon is really Tony’s kind of movie.” 

Tony nods to Natasha in concession to Clint’s point, and the assassin rolls her eyes a final time before turning back to Bruce and walking towards downtown. Clint gives Tony a half smile and a shrug before following the femme fatale calling over his shoulder “You tell me if you ever get around to that fission-powered bow you were talking about!” 

Bruce gives Tony a wave and a true smile. The two of them have already made plans which could revolutionize the energy industry, again, and keep Stark Industries on an upward swing.

“Guess it’s just us now.” 

Tony turned to see Steve, arms crossed, leaning back against his motorcycle. The inventor is taken aback, his mind returning to the scene in his childhood kitchen. For a second he’s back to being that hurt and angry 12 year old boy, just for a second before control returns. 

“Yeah Cap, looks that way. Were you about to suggest we go pick up a Cosmo, some wine coolers, and hit the Ben & Jerry’s hard tonight because we just don’t care about calories on the weekend? Because like, totally.” 

Okay, maybe that was an overreaction and in retrospect Tony feels kind of bad for A) snapping back so quickly and B) making so many references Steve is sure to not get.

Steve takes a moment to process Stark’s reply, feeling like he’s being made fun of, but not quite how. “Just making conversation.” He says, annoyed that everyone around him keeps going over his head like that, Tony in particular.

Tony can see that the Captain was put-off by the exchange, but after that lovely little flashback incident, he’s really in no mood to apologize and his cab just pulled up. “Right, well fun as that may be, I have things, waiting for me, at the…the place” He gestures towards the soaring heights of Stark Tower in the distance as he begins to walk towards his cab. 

“Welcome back to America!” Tony yells from his car.

___  
Steve remains at his motorcycle for more than a few minutes after he watched Tony’s cab speed off. His brow furrows as he finally straps on his helmet and revs up his bike, muttering to himself. “Howard, what did you do to that boy?”  
___

It’s 3 am and Tony still clutches the glass of gin in his hand he poured half an hour ago. Condensation pools on the side table by the couch and the ice has almost completely melted, the contents of the glass a watery mess now. His eyes focus on something in the distance, barely blinking.

_Laying there in his California king bed, Tony feels like every molecule in his body is ready to catch on fire, his heart tells him to run. To get out. The funeral earlier in the afternoon seems like a lifetime ago. What’s more apparent to him is what he did after the funeral; the bars, the drugs, the women, and yes, the men._

_In fact, a quick glance to either side confirms that yes, Marina and Seth and both still there, both fast asleep. Neither of them suspected that underneath the dazzlingly seductive exterior lies that depressed and broken down boy. The sun’s coming up and all he can see is his father’s face, torturing him even after his death._

The spell is finally broken when a gunshot from the streets below draws Tony’s attention briefly. Glancing at the drink in his hand, Tony frowns. “Why are you full?” He asks the glass before swigging it all down, making a face. “Ugh, that’s why.”

With that, he sets the empty glass on the table before shambling to bed, throwing his shirt and pants on a nearby stretch of floor. Pepper’s gone for the week so Tony can get away with being a slob. This is hardly a problem anyway given the numerous robots that would be more than happy to be programmed to do laundry.

But Pepper insists on humans setting the precedent for tidiness, and when Pepper insists, it’s unwise to disagree for long. 

Tony settles into bed, clapping twice, the lights dimming until they shut off completely “Good night, sir.” “Good night, Jarvis.” 

Tony’s mind is still racing even as he feels the gin contribute to his already substantial drowsiness. Scenes of the last few days are interspersed with his childhood, though they both center on a certain recently unfrozen captain. The anxiety fades long enough for Tony to fall asleep, though not before muttering “God damn you, Steve Rogers.”

**Author's Note:**

> First post to AO3 and first Avengers fic. Kind of short for a first chapter, but hopefully it'll pick up.


End file.
